The Biden Administration, in a virtual event that took place on Friday, January 28, recognized the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. Haub Law was one of 99 law schools in 35 states and Puerto Rico who responded to the Attorney General’s Call to Action to the legal profession to address the housing and eviction crisis, and help increase housing stability and access to justice in their communities. Representing the Biden Administration at the event were, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Vanita Gupta, Associate Attorney General of the United States, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo, Gene Sperling, Senior Advisor to the President, American Rescue Plan Coordinator, as well as Law School Deans, administration and students from across the country.
A statement from the White House and Department of Justice highlighted that over the past five months, more than 2,100 law students dedicated over 81,000 hours to serve over 10,000 households, based on a survey tracking the effort facilitated by Georgetown University Law Center Dean William Treanor and New York University School of Law Dean Trevor Morrison.
Noted on Haub Law’s response to the Call to Action by Attorney General Merrick Garland was the Law School’s strategic mission to create student opportunities to address access to justice (A2J) gaps. During summer 2021, the law school’s summer fellowship program funded several law students to work full-time at legal services organizations assisting client representation in housing and eviction matters, both in New York and across the country. This past fall 2021, in our inaugural A2J Lab class, an interdisciplinary team of 6 Haub Law and 6 Computer Science students designed the prototype for a web mobile application to help low income Westchester renters address rental habitability issues, including a crucial recordkeeping capability that can be used to collect evidence to defend tenants in eviction and rent non-payment proceedings. Further, this spring 2022, through a collaboration with community partners and Westchester courts, Haub Law students will engage in pro bono work assisting court referees in Housing and Veterans Court cases, among others, and Haub Law will sponsor its inaugural A2J Program and Workshop, specifically spotlighting Housing Law and Right to Counsel in Eviction, bringing community leaders, advocates, and students together to brainstorm about ways to address the housing crisis. Our many Centers and Clinics provide students and community members with continuous opportunities to address and help remedy the A2J gaps present. In addition to the experiential learning aimed at addressing A2J gaps, Haub Law addresses it on the curricular side as well with several courses, including our Access to Justice Seminar, and in the work our Centers do in bringing in speakers on housing and eviction matters. Further, there are many guided law student participants in research and writing projects focused on addressing housing access and the eviction crisis.
